🎨 Creating Through the Crash: Why I Made Chronic Illness Awareness Art
When I was first diagnosed with POTS, everything stopped.
I was exhausted, dealing with heart palpitations and brain fog, and I had to cancel all of my teaching commitments — something I’d never imagined doing. I suddenly found myself in a body that couldn’t keep up with the life I’d built.
Art has always been a big part of who I am, so I turned to it the way I always have — as a lifeline. I started drawing as a way to process this huge shift, to make sense of the emotions I couldn’t always explain out loud. And when I discovered others online doing the same — making honest, relatable, and sometimes funny art about chronic illness — I felt less alone. I wanted to add my voice to that conversation.
So I started creating a collection of disability awareness designs. These pieces reflect real parts of living with chronic illness — the invisible, exhausting, and often misunderstood parts — in a way that’s validating but still gentle. I wanted to steer completely clear of toxic positivity. Because the truth is, it’s okay to feel all kinds of things about a life that looks very different from what you imagined. That’s not negativity — it’s honesty.
One of my favourite pieces is a design that says “Live, Laugh, CRASH!” — a twist on the well-known phrase that felt a little too ironic once I started crashing mid-day, every day. That kind of humour is part of how I cope, and I know I’m not alone in that.
Most of the work in this collection was made digitally — using Procreate, Illustrator, and Photoshop — tools I can use from bed if I need to. I still love traditional art, but I have to save that for the days my body’s up for it. Life used to be full of movement — I was a music teacher, always running around from place to place. Now, I work around what my body can manage. I feel really lucky that creativity was already in my life, because it’s carried me through so much.
More than anything, I want people with chronic illness and neurodivergence to feel seen in this work. To laugh a little. To feel recognised. I hope it also offers insight to caregivers and allies — a glimpse into what their loved ones might be navigating, even if they can’t see it.
Because so much of this life is invisible. We schedule everything around naps and recovery time. We mask how bad it is. We do what we can, when we can. And we’re not lazy. We’re not exaggerating. We’re strong — even when we don’t look it.
If you’ve ever lived with chronic illness or fatigue, I hope you find something in this collection that resonates. And if you use art or creativity to cope, I’d love to hear your story too.
Let’s keep sharing. Let’s keep showing up.
One quiet design, one honest conversation, one day at a time. 🌿